Throughout April, we’re counting down to the release of Marvel’s Iron Man 3 with our picks for the Greatest Comic Book Movies of All Time; here’s #6…
Iron Man, 2008.
Directed by Jon Favreau.
Starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, Jon Favreau and Clark Gregg.
Having established Marvel Studios in the mid-90s, the comic book publisher spent the following decade licensing its characters to various studios, resulting in a mixed bag of films ranging from the likes of the Spider-Man and X-Men franchises to Daredevil and Fantastic Four. However, in 2004, Marvel Studios secured a financing package which would enable it to fund its own slate of movies, which began in 2008 with the release of Iron Man.
Directed by Jon Favreau and starring Robert Downey Jr. as the billionaire playboy-turned-armored superhero Tony Stark, Iron Man proved to be a smash hit for Marvel, banking over $585 million worldwide and receiving praise from both fans and critics alike. It also launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe, becoming the first step on the road to last year’s blockbuster The Avengers, which was reinforced when Downey reprised the role of Tony Stark for a post-credits sequence later that year in The Incredible Hulk. He returned again in 2010 to headline the less-favourably received Iron Man 2 before lining up alongside the rest of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in The Avengers, while he’ll don the armor again this month as Phase Two of the MCU gets underway with the release of Iron Man 3.
Iron Man is the third Marvel Studios film to feature in our countdown of the Greatest Comic Book Movies, with Thor coming in at #35 and Captain America: The First Avenger featuring at #33.
Keep up to date with our entire countdown here.
Holy Franchise, Batman! Bringing the Caped Crusader to the Screen – Available now via Amazon.co.uk
Originally published April 20, 2013. Updated November 30, 2022.
